What Message is Your Pricing Sending to Your Customers?

I was at a hotel’s rooftop pool recently and took a look at their bar menu. What I saw surprised me.

They were offering four categories of alcohol on a “free flow” or “all you drink” basis for 2 people for 2 hours at a fixed price, starting at about $30 for beer and higher for other types of alcohol.

From the customer’s point of view, to maximize the value you get for your money on a deal like this, you would want to drink as much as possible in the 2 hour period. That might attract a crowd that you wouldn’t want at your establishment and could result in some unfortunate behavior if they take full advantage of this deal.

This same pool bar charged high prices for individual drinks, the kind of prices you might see at a rooftop bar in New York City. Those prices might be fine for someone who just wanted to have a nightcap at night with their date, but not for a hotel guest who just wanted a drink by the pool in the afternoon.

They didn’t differentiate between the types of customers that their establishment might attract by offering discounts for hotel guests or by having different prices at different times of day.

What message does your pricing structure send your customers? Is it the message you intended or is it something you didn’t really want to communicate to them. Tell about any strange pricing policies you have seen in the comments.